Learn what these three students hope to achieve personally, professionally, and in their education in 2021.
I have just transitioned from a larger corporation to a role at a smaller organization where I can take more of a front seat role. I will get to wear a lot of different functional hats. I’m looking forward to taking classes at Booth that are out of my comfort zone and feel there will be a lot of growth and self-discovery. In 2021, I’m hoping to think about what I’d like the next five years to look like for me so I can make the most out of the rest of my time at Booth.
On a personal note, I’m from New England but currently live in Atlanta. I started looking at buying some land up in New England to have a place to go to in the summer so I’m laying out what that would look like in terms of financing and building that out. I’m also wrapping up renovating my home and it would be great to finish that as well!
In many ways, 2020 has shown me that I have lots to grow. I haven’t been a “new year’s resolution” type person in the past, but this is the year to grow. Goals are tough to stick with and with the pandemic throwing a wrench in our lifestyles, this year I’ve decided to do “new week resolutions” instead. With a shorter time commitment, I’ll be able to experiment with more aggressive goals and adjust as I see fit as circumstances may vary significantly this year.
On a personal level, my goals for the year revolve around these three themes: Read, Connect, Reflect.
On a professional level, now that I’m going through my last couple quarters at Booth, my goal is to focus on doing a lot of soul searching and really think about what kind of leader I want to be, how I can positively impact the world and people around me. Given the very flexible structure of the Booth MBA program, my strategy towards class planning was to take the hard technical classes upfront to challenge myself, then finish up with soft skill leadership classes. Classes such as Leadership Studio (with Harry Davis) and Leadership Capital (with Linda Ginzel) will serve as great capstone courses that will tie my entire Booth journey together and help define my leadership brand as I move into the next stage of my career.
My resolution for school this year would be to broaden my network at Booth, get to know more students and join more clubs or groups. Joining clubs gives you a built-in network with a common interest and those relationships can be really fulfilling. I'm on my cohort’s PPC (“Party Planning Committee”) and in the Credit Club, but I haven't joined a club purely for social reasons. My school year resolution is to join a group or club just for fun.
In terms of my career, I hope to continue to make strides towards a career in private debt investing. I spent the Fall as an Associate at O'Brien-Staley Partners and I am taking Debt, Distress and Restructuring with Amir Sufi in the coming quarter. This should set me up for success in achieving that goal!
On a personal note, in the new year my resolution is to make more time for self-care. 2020 was a chaotic year and 2021 calls for some more “me” time!
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As she nears graduation, student Julia Jain reflects back on her time at Booth and tells us what has inspired and empowered her as a woman pursuing her MBA.
Choose to Challenge: Coming to Chicago Booth from a non-traditional background
